Grants & support for London’s charitable sector

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Hear about the latest open funding opportunities and offers of free support for London’s charitable and social enterprise sector.

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This first round of our new funding programme focuses on ​‘led by and for’ organisations delivering free social welfare advice, engaging in social action, and supporting systems change.

We’re seeking to help organisations helping Londoners access their rights and find solutions to everyday problems in areas such as housing, welfare benefits, debt, employment, and immigration. 

Funding will be split between two streams: three year Development Grants of £75,000 and five-year Transformation Grants of £200,000, £300,000 or £450,000. 

Application deadline: 12 noon on Wednesday, 7 January 2026.

Learn more: www.citybridgefoundation.org.uk/funding/access-to-justice

The Girls and Young Women Local Groups Fund in London aims to strengthen both direct support and the evidence base on what works, by offering grants to London-based community groups already working with women and girls impacted by gangs, violence and exploitation.

Alongside funding to deliver group work and enable girls and young women to co-produce recommendations for improving the sector, this unique grant opportunity (overseen by Social Finance) also offers structured development activities to support grantees and build a network of providers.

The Fund focuses on achieving outcomes across two key priorities:

• Delivering gender-responsive support for girls and young women
• Building a network of practice for grantees

This fund aims to build on existing strengths while offering space to test and develop new, sustainable approaches to support this group.

There is a total grant pot of £610,000. Individual grants will range from £25,000 to £80,000 for delivery between June 2026 and June 2027.

The Fund will open for applications on Friday, 2 January 2026 and close Friday, 6 February 2026.

Learn more: www.socialfinance.org.uk

Funding from the Archer Trust is available to small organisations working to make a difference in the lives of people who are disadvantaged or marginalised.

The Trust favours charities which, in one way or another, provide aid or support to a defined group of disadvantaged or marginalised people, and which also make good use of volunteers. 

The vast majority of our grants are given towards general funds, rather than specific projects or capital costs. 

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Successful applicants will receive a grant between two and eight months after submitting their application.

Learn more: www.archertrust.org.uk/grant-application

The Rayne Foundation can fund project and salary costs of roughly £10,000 to £30,000 per year for up to three years. There can be flexibility in the grant size and duration. 

Their grants can be used for: 

• Improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people
• Creating opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers
• Improving the quality of life for people in later life and their carers

They will also consider applications for core costs, but prefer to do so when they have an established relationship with the applicant, usually through previous project funding.

The Foundation runs a rolling, open grants programme with no deadline.

Learn more: www.raynefoundation.org.uk

This programme gives artists the opportunity to develop a new project, idea or performance as well as taking part in a year-long programme of support.

The Barbican is looking for submissions that develop and create: new voices, new audiences, new ideas and new challenges. 

Under the new voices strand, they’re seeking to support early to mid-career artists and companies working in theatre and dance. They are particularly interested in proposals from people who are underrepresented on our stages including artists from the Global Majority, LGBTQIA+ artists/​companies, and d/​Deaf and disabled artists/​companies.

The programme is offering:

• A week’s residency in the Barbican’s studio theatre, resourced with technical staff and equipment, to experiment and develop your project, idea or performance
• Technical provision, support and advice from our production team
• A financial contribution towards your project of £2,500 to support you to pay collaborators
• Additional funding for access requirements is available for successful applicants upon request.
• Training and mentoring

Application deadline: 12 noon on Monday, 5 January 2026.

Learn more: www.barbican.org.uk/take-part

The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust can fund registered charities working in the fields of the advancement of the arts, health and medical welfare and environmental protection or improvement.

The Trust can provide grants of roughly £500 to £6,000 and will consider applications for core costs or projects (not capital projects). 

Next application deadline: midnight on Wednesday, 21 January 2026.

Learn more: www.doylycartecharitabletrust.org

Go! London are looking for bold, creative ideas that use physical activity and sport to build stronger, more resilient communities for children and young people in London.

They are launching two Innovation challenges with a focus on: 

• Sport for Climate Action
• Reimagining Spaces for Sport and Play

They are looking for ideas that bring different stakeholders together and work directly with young people to create safe, inclusive spaces where they can play and be active.

Successful applicants can receive up to £100,000 funding and join a two-month capacity building programme. 

The lead applicant or organisation must have a registered legal entity, and should be a non-profit organisation (including schools, universities and local authorities). For-profit organisations can be part of the partnership, but not the lead applicant. 

Applications close at 5pm on Tuesday, 17 February 2026.

Learn more: www.golondon.org.uk/open-innovation-challenges

Every organisation funded by City Bridge Foundation can apply for free, additional support that goes beyond funding. This is our Funder Plus offer.

For instance, we can provide fee support your organisation’s development and governance, fundraising or business planning.

Eligible funded organisation can benefit from free access to training courses, attendance at conferences, and/​or peer-to-peer learning. Many more support options are available. City Bridge Foundation offers all of this at no financial cost to your organisation.

Learn more at www.citybridgefoundation.org.uk/funder-plus

This initiative from Association of Chairs is still open to applications, with co-mentoring matching happening at the end of January 2026

Successful applicants are matched with a partner to co-mentor each other over a period of six months. 

Having a co-mentor to talk to outside of your organisation provides a helpful reflective space to talk through your experiences as a chair, be listened to by someone who has a valuable perspective to share, sound out new ideas and learn about different approaches. 

Association of Chairs will provide you with guidance on how to make this mentoring work, and recommend you have monthly meetings together. These meetings could happen virtually or in person.

The scheme follows a co-mentoring approach, whereby a space is created for both parties to listen to and mentor each other. This is a development partnership through which both parties share experience, perspectives, and insight to support the development of the other. 

Learn more: www.associationofchairs.co.uk/community

Supported by City Bridge Foundation

Voice4Change England are seeking feedback from individuals from across the VCSE sector who work for, volunteer with, and support Black and Minoritised Ethnic (BME) led organisations, community groups, and social enterprises. 

They are conducting a survey to capture a comprehensive understanding of the current landscape, challenges, and opportunities facing England’s Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) infrastructure sector for BME organisations. 

The survey covers both generic infrastructure support and tailored infrastructure support. 

They are keen to identify the key challenges, opportunities, and priorities within the sector. The findings of this survey will be used to inform policy recommendations, develop targeted support and resources, and strengthen collaboration and networking opportunities.

Contributors have a chance of winning one of seven £50 Amazon vouchers. 

The survey deadline is 5pm on Monday. 19 January 2026

Take the survey: VCSE Infrastructure Sector Mapping Survey

A free, one-year programme supporting leaders who have already demonstrated they have a talent for fundraising and have the drive and ambition to be an exemplary influence in the charitable sector.

The Elischer Foundation is especially interested in hearing from people who bring fresh perspectives, lived experience and bold questions — particularly those who haven’t always seen themselves reflected in traditional leadership spaces.

Applications are open until Monday, 19 January 2025. 

Learn more: www.elischerfoundation.org/apply-to-be-a-mentee

Join Superhighways to learn more about the new Indices of Deprivation data published in October 2025. 

In this online session they’ll look at key insights, including possible comparisons with the 2019 dataset. They’ll also demo key tools you can use to explore this data at a range of geographies in London. They’ll be supported by DataKind UK, OCSI and London Plus.

Date and time: 10–11.30am on Monday, 26 January 2026. 

Find out more: www.events.superhighways.org.uk/events/1080

The Media Trust, with support from The Marketing Trust, are offering free online marketing training led by industry experts. 

You can choose from their two-part Digital Marketing or Marketing Essentials courses to sharpen your strategy, understand what’s working, and build practical plans you can put into action straight away.

Each course includes step-by-step guidance, follow-up support and expert clinics. Places are limited, so book your free spot today!

Various sessions available across February and March 2026

Learn more: www.mediatrust.org/communications-support

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